Government has warned that it will suspend the mining license of CNMC Luanshya Copper Mines Plc if the company does not reverse its decision to stop production at its Baluba mine.
CNMC Luanshya said last week that it had arrived at the decision after considering the rising cost structure for its Baluba Mine owing to the weaker copper price and increased load shedding.
Speaking on ZNBC’s Sunday Interview last evening, Mr Kambwili who is also Information Minister and Roan MP said government will not tolerate layoffs.
Mr Kambwili said the government would not accept any job losses as a result of the power shortage and had told CNMC Luanshya to rescind its decision.
“If they don’t comply we will revoke their licence, “Every investor who comes to Zambia must respect the law of the land.”
“We have options that we can take as government and one of the options is to suspend their mining license,” he said.
Mr Kambwili said the company did not follow procedures and acted “illegally”.
“If they don’t follow the procedure there are options for government to invoke. We shall invoke the provisions of the law and suspend their entire mining operation.”
The Mineworkers Union of Zambia says about 1,600 members are affected by the decision.
On Mopani Mines decision to suspend operations for 18 months, Mr Kambwili said Glencore is yet to inform government of its decision to suspend operations in Zambia.
“If they also want to suspend their operations, indeed they will write to us. As far as we’re concerned there is nothing going to happen at Mopani until we are written to. The position of government is that that is speculation.”
The Bully of Zambia! Go ahead and take away that mining licence. Let’s see how that solves the issue of low copper prices on the world market! How come you are not doing anything to Glencore?
What is frightening is Kambwili represents decisions of Cabinet. Not long ago he told us go how the new stadium would be called the “Gabon Disaster National Stadiums”. No, colleagues, jokes aside is this a Cabinet we Zambians should respect.No. They are leading us to a bottomless pit
So @ Nubian Princess, it will be ok if people of Luanshya loose their jobs? Is Kalumbila, Kansanshi, Lumwana Barrick, not facing the same problems? Why should it be Luanshya only to face closures all the time? Kambwili was correct. The law of the land is very clear when it comes to such matters; and Kambwili highlighted them one by one.
They may just call his bluff. Then what happens to the mine if another investor is not found to take it over expeditiously. Anglo walked away from KCM and we ended up giving away the mines to Vendata.
Here in the UK the bad news that Glencore is closing the mines in Zambia and Congo out there in most of the papers and there is totally nothing these PF id1ots can do to save the situation.
So people in the Copperbelt prepare for the worst when the mines close under PF.
When HH said he is going to negotiate with Anglo- American to take over the mines from Glencore so that poor Zambians in the Copperbelt can continue to have jobs, PF id0its insulted him without getting the facts right about the mine closures.
So I urge people on the Copper belt to vote UPND enmasse so that HH can encourage Anglo- American to start operating the mines after he has sorted out power shortages.
PF has the money to sort out power shortages but they are busy stealing it.
2016 vote UPND HH.
Kambwili?! Ejaculating threats everyday carelessly in public wil not earn you respect…..,,,sometimes learn to put on a condom and mustabute in silence in the corner away from the public ?
Why should Kambwili worry if Lungu is creating 500,000 new jobs
These alpha males can be irritating at times. The cost production goes up and you force me to keep the same workforce at my kantemba!. Why do we get things wrongly. Remember all the Chinese businesses that come to Zambia are connected to the Chinese Govt. You touch one you touch all..
.. I know what I am talking about. Meanwhile I feel the luanshya mine owners will have the last laugh
Those Chinese are laughing at this clown ALREADY!
They know that if they stop pumping water out of the mine it will flood, and these useless PF F00LS will not even be able to give it away FOR FREE with current low copper prices!
All this id!ot has managed to achieve by his stup!d utterances is to tell investors that if they want to do copper mining, DON’T COME TO ZAMBIA! Go to the DRC!
No wonder DRC has overtaken Zambia in copper production!
Kashimbi Chimbwili ni mbwa sana!!! how can CNMC pay workers when there is no production? Would the government give CNMC subsides to cover salary costs? Which economics is he applying? Iya ku Mpatamato, ichi chipuba sana chi minister that’s why chimbwili with no plans. Which law of the land is not respected? They respected you hence the reason they are not making Zesco alot of noise. You are just showing how foolish you are.
Pathetic fools (PF) you have failed lamentbly, you will not run a country with threats all over places.
Mwalitumpa sana ba PF!!! ba makaka!
I sympathise with the people of Luanshya. In my view the government should also seize this moment of opportunity to review the entry point of these investors. What we require is our government to structure this transactions that only investors with a huge financial muscle to participate in our economy and not the current situation where this pretenders are given opportunities in a silver plater.
Surely at our level we have sufficient human capital to capture and validate lessons from the RAMCOZ saga.
The Dog still barked even when clear daylight broke cause it was still afraid of its shadow. This thing doesn’t realise that there are economic and business reasons for organisations to take such actions.
Can your bus driver depart for Lusaka without filling up your bus you 1diot??
Stop insulting! This thing wakwisa? Who doesn’t know what you have just yapped? Have respect! Do you even know what Kambwili was saying?
“Every investor who comes to Zambia must respect the law of the land.”
A case of do as I say and not as I do, huh…
Now when the Luanshya people cried foul over rape of underage girls, exactly how was this resolved. Bent over backwards and let the ‘investor’ have their way. When mines let out their toxic waste in to the community you continue like it’s not happening.
You taught them they don’t have to listen to or respect any laws. However, in this case they are following the laws of economics and our response is to start playing tough cop over jobs. Licenses should have been withdrawn following all sorts of bad behaviour in the past. Can’t see how you’re going to revoke a license simply because they are going to make you look bad and you have an election coming up… and mostly…
…mostly because your populist planning forgot to include a cushion in case of hard times… either that or the cushion has been siphoned out corruptly… either way there is a storm brewing and shouting won’t stop it turning in to a full fledged tsunami…
What is the cure for constipation? This guy then wonders why we say there is uncertainty in PF or why Foreign Direct Investment has slowed.
That’s the best Chimbwili knows . Throwing his ka weight around. Intimidating every one. Please can someone do a DNA test on this creature for us.
You go and say that in Luanshya and see if you won’t come in a casket! You are the one who needs DNA test because you are low IQ buffalo.
Well said Hon Minister.
When an investor applies for an investment licence, HE CATEGORICALLY STATES THAT HE WILL EMPLOY “X” NUMBER OF ZAMBIANS. There is no Force Majeure clause in his application. Hon Kambwile….PLEASE PIN THEM DOWN. We are proud of your thinking, well done Sir.
Kambwillis companies are the preferred supplier to that mine. He threatens them all the time. Kambwilli it is greedy selfish ministers like you who are destroying Zambia. Can you tell us, of all the supplies you have supplied , how many zambian manufactures have you engaged?? Don’t you know supporting local manufacturing increases GRZ revenues and saves the country dollars??
Kahimbi chimbwili takwata amano sana!!
They may just call his bluff. Then what happens to the mine if another investor is not found to take it over expeditiously. Anglo walked away from KCM and we ended up giving away the mines to Vendata.
More threats and more threats, Well I support Nationalization of mines that empty threats. These Mines need subsidized electricity and don’t contribute that much in taxes , so why give them to investors?
I echo your sentiments mmd chief bootlicker, you are right on this one my brother
But you have to be careful with the way you want to protect these workers otherwise if you are threatening investors shame on you.It’s through negotiations and dialogue to any deadlock.You can not impose on these investors what you want to be done because it is their money so be careful with utterances
Well done honourable Kabwili! Is CNMC the only mine affected by the low copper prices, NO! These are fake investors that just want to reap and destroy our natural resources by pretending they are creating employment. This time around, I urge all miners in Luanshya to be strong and support Governments decision because the so called investors have connived with the opposition and cartel and just want make you look desperate. A real investor listens and sees in long term than short term! Additionally, much as you may temporarily be out of employment, Government is not sitting idle but engaging real and credible investors who will come and work with you in good and trying times.
We have had too much of these fake investors and enough is enough, so fellow minors, don’t be cheated any more by…
Well spoken Hon Kambwili. Zambians are aware of this arms twisting nonsense! its this Cartel and their ka newspaper. It is a failed project and they will never succeed. Every day they quote the same few disgruntled individuals to discredit govt. They are useless hypocrites. They are useless hypocrites.
@ BBC mufana, I know that you belong to the Present Fools (pf) but mark my words, very soon you will be the Past Fools (pf).
Don’t listen to opposition because they have their own agenda of developing cattle industry in Southern Province and not yours bashimaini ku Luanshya in particular and Copperbelt and NorthWestern Provinces in general. HH started this nonsense of selling your mines CHEAPLY and he pocketed all the money. Infact the opposition come there trying to cheat you, just burn them alive.
The opposition’s plan is to enrich themselves and concentrate only taking development only to one Province in the unlikely event they came to power because they firmly believe it will be a “Thank you” to their tribesmate. In this document, some people who have just joined them recently will be replaced by the oldest serving MPs. One of the guys will be asked to wait to give chance to the “true” members…
Gents, you will start accusing your shadows of working with the opposition soon.
And this is helpful to us how?
Even if you made a mistake of the century to vote for these Under 5’s, will they make the copper prices go up? Will they create rainfall? Will they employ you when they have their relatives to consider first? How long will it take them to actually consider you brothers and sisters on the mine other than them thinking about themselves and their relatives in some known Province?
If indeed the opposition really cared about the welfare of Zambians, why wait for their magic bullet miracle to offer workable solutions only when they are in Government and to take you out of your predicament? Don’t you smell something fishy here that all they think about is their diminishing businesses which they want to resustate and come tell you that “didn’t you know that we where rich even before we came…
the reason we change Governments is so that we try someone else who seems to have better plans, visions and attitude than the ones in power. If the opposition could do run the country without the authority and resources of Government then there would be no need to have a Government now would there??
I do agree the mines should do things decently and in order – if there is a way for them to continue production without laying of people – they should explore all options on the table. The lives of thousands of people will be radically changed. However, you cant just threaten a company to revoke its license (which if you do revoke then everyone loses their job for the foreseeable future). And, of course when you revoke a license that doesn’t exactly entice others to come an invest in Zambia. But, I will trust the man that he knows his job and is working for the best interest of all of Zambia.
I don’t like Kambwili’s ‘aggression’, but that is part of his personality which I cannot take away from him. When I listened to him last evening on ZNBC, I was gobsmacked at how logical and sensible he articulated himself. The guy is very intelligent and he deserves my respect. On each he covered he drove the nail on its head. I am nonpartisan by the way.
Mr. X,
Please, do not listen to Kambwili whilst under influence.
We all know that the PF MPs who Sata said were useless are the ones who would be appointed to cabinet. So please if you see anything coming out of them that does not make sense, don’t insult them. Just remind them politely though I have noticed that they are very very defensive in everything, literally defining human logic which calls for listening to advice sometimes. This particular minister says he is aggressive but he is just blowing hot air with no tangible results on the ground all the time. “I have never started a project and failed” , meanwhile you have a failed project – hunger all over. Cost of living beyond anybody’s means. Manage your costs, size of cabinet, 3 deputy ministers one ministry ala
we have been through this familiar road before, copper price went down, anglo american left and we sold kcm for a song to the indians, who in turn made billions of dollars after the copper price rebound. Let these go and this time let the mine go to iDC and be run by Zambians.
Listening to Kambwili last night helped explain why this country is having difficulties to develop. Kambwili exhibited very shallow appreciation of how economies work. To imagine that the guy is a Cabinet Minister and Government spokesman speaks volumes of the low caliber of leaders in this country. It was depressing listening to his dangerously shallow analysis. The guy doesn’t even know who holds what type of shares in Mopani. He thinks ZCCM-IH has a golden share in Mopani! YA TULETEKWA!
Most of the ministers are dull, you think their qualifications are fake. Like the other ka Vincent mwale came to tell us Zambia was importing power from a ” ship ” anchored some where in Mozambique. There is no country that can develop with such empty tins in charge.
This kambwili is not qualified to comment on matters to do with law .He cannot be the master of everything
Kambwili as usual making threats. He doesn’t realize that with all the load shedding and falling kwacha business is tough. Every business has to adjust to avoid going under. Isnt’s common sense?
@wakunyanja, do you live on mars or Venus? Zambia Railways, Zamtel and ZESCO are being run by Zambians, are successful stories? In my view they failed companies. If mines are put under useless company you have suggested the mines like before wiill start depending on budgetary allocation. Is that what you want?
check with the zambias in kalumbila and kansanshi, then you will gwt to know hw many pipo hav already lost employment because of the same
every mining firm in zambia is downsizing simply because of the same,
find from your mates around and make sense of the reality.
Can Zambians manage these companies? it is possible many years ago I was a junior officer at the Zambia State Insurance one of the largest insurance companies in Zambia. Like most of my friends I was dying for it to be privatized because it was a failed project. In 2000 they shareholders appointed a very young Zambian as CEO Mr. Alison Singogo. Despite his age the man had vision he motivated us so much and even today ZSIC a company that could have been sold was served. Yes I think Zambians can successfully run companies but you need men of vision, character and leadership.
Perhaps govt position is also that the copper price is still high “until they are written to” and any low copper prices are “speculation”…
Zambians requires a sober mind in dealing with this issue. It’s said ” In every dark cloud there’s a silver lining”. This issue must be addressed from a by partisan stand point. It must be recognised that it’s not PF under seige just like it wasn’t the MMD under seige during the RAMCOZ saga, the all entire Zambia suffered directly or indirectly.
The ruling party must tap into the country’s best human capital and empower them to be at the front line in finding a lasting solution to this threat. Otherwise this blame game or rather politics will just expose you to be a laughing Stoke by generations to come.
but uyu chimbwili chikopo sana! revoking da mining license frm a mining group that is less interested in mining any more wud be a perfect timing 2 help dem run away as they want 2 du so. one option is to revoke en send da pipo home also, what is da other one?